The Bartender and the Cat
by SilentAnokoku
Summary: Shizuo finds a lanky black cat alone in an alley on a rainy day. Reluctantly, he takes it home. But there's something oddly human about this particular feline. Shizaya. AU. Inspired by The Frog Prince fairytale.
1. Chapter 1

_I DO NOT OWN DURARARA!_

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><p>'<em>I'm allergic to cats...so why the hell am I even doing this..?<em>'

That was what I thought to myself as I was carefully drying off the black cat which I had brought into my home.

I had found the poor thing as I was walking home from my work at the bar. It had been raining for almost an hour and I was close to home when I heard something. Not exactly sure what, I stopped in my tracks and listened.

There.

The sound was a pitiful mix between a meow and a wail and it was coming from the alleyway on my left.

Curious and concerned, I ducked into the alley and found the source of the racket: a lanky black cat who was absolutely drenched. A giant puddle had cornered it and it was obviously too scared to try to cross this seemingly vast body of water.

I cursed myself as I stooped down and reached for the cat. Hissing at me, it attempted to make its fur stand on end as it swiped at my hand.

Annoyed, I sighed. "Why the hell do I even try..?"

The moment I turned my back and took a step away, however, I heard a heart-wrenching, fragile "mew".

"..._Dammit_..!" I hissed under my breath before turning back and carefully trying to scoop up the soaking wet creature.

In a docile manner, it cooperated as it clumsily clambered into my arms, weighed down by the water clinging to its jet black fur.

As I walked home, my umbrella held carefully in the crook of my elbow as I cradled the cat, I could feel its claws poking into me gently.

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><p>And so I found myself drying of a soaked black cat in my own home, hoping desperately that I wouldn't start-<p>

_ACHOO!_

-...sneezing.

Groaning as I stood up, I dropped the towel on the mud-room tile and kicked off my shoes. I was considering whether or not I should shower when something touched my legs. Naturally, I tensed up.

When I looked down, however, it was the cat rubbing itself against my legs out of gratitude. I could also hear a very audible and yet soft purr coming from the creature.

I sighed and couldn't help but chuckle.

From there I decided to shower. I had predicted that it would be difficult to keep the cat out of the bathroom, judging by its affectionate rubbing. Thankfully, I wrong. Or not so thankfully, seeing as the animal that I was allergic to leapt onto my bed and curled up on it as if it owned the thing.

Leaving the bathroom turned out to be different, as the feline had placed itself directly in my path.

"...What?" I questioned.

It stared at me with its reddish brown eyes which had lit up mischievously at the sight of me.

"What do you wa-"

"Miaow," I swear it was smirking at me.

"..I don't speak ca-"

"Miaow~~," it cut me off sassily before rising to its paws. With a chirruping sort of noise, it began to walk out of my bedroom towards the rest of my apartment.

Sighing, I trudged after the cat.

When I had caught up to it, the black furry creature was pawing at my refrigerator.

"...Food."

I received a purr in response.

"Taking that as a yes," I mumbled, opening the refrigerator. All I really found suitable for the cat was milk and a can of tuna I had taken a bite of before deciding it was disgusting. I poured it a saucer of the milk and set down the can of tuna.

Ignoring the milk completely, it tore into the tuna as though it hadn't eaten in ages.

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><p>Later, after having eaten and explored, the cat joined me on my bed. I had been watching television boredly as I attempted to doze off and ignore my urge to sneeze.<p>

Purring, it began to rub up against me.

I had still been unable to figure out if it was male or female. Since the former was easier to decide thanks to usually obvious parts, I went with the latter.

"You're a friendly one, aren't you, girl?"

It froze in its tracks and shot me a dirty look.

I raised an eyebrow in response.

Sitting down to face me, it stared into my eyes with its own, giving me a look which came off as "Are you really that stupid?"

"...Boy?"

At this, it, or he I should say, nodded in a satisfied manner and trotted off to the side of me and my bed. He curled up with his back facing me, obviously shunning me.

"You're a strange one, for sure," I mumbled, wondering why I was even talking to a cat.

He turned his head to face me and briefly stuck out his tongue before returning to his original position.

I stared.

'_Animals can't seriously act **that** human...can they?_'

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><p><em>I thought of this while thinking of cat allergies. Yeah, my mind is random.<em>

_Anyways, this will be interesting. I'm not sure how many people are to appear but I've figured out 4 so far, including the main pairing._

_ALSO, I REALLLY need someone to explain how allergy meds work!_

_I reaaally like review__s~ They encourage me to write more~ (and also help pointing out mistakes I am too lazy to look for)_


	2. Chapter 2

_I DO NOT OWN DURARARA!_

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><p>I had figured I ought to bring the cat to Shinra, my friend who luckily happened to be a vet, to get a check up of sorts for the cat. Not to mention I needed to figure out what to do with him.<p>

My first thought was to give him to the pound or put it up for adoption, but that just didn't seem right. I couldn't figure out why, either. I just...needed to have this cat for some reason. Even if I was to keep the cat, though, I needed to know how to take care of it. So, either way, I needed to go see Shinra.

"Would you stop running away and yowling?" I hollered at the finicky feline who had been hysterical ever since I had said "vet".

Unsuccessfully, I launched myself towards the black cat, only to have him slip out of the way last minute and bound off to a different part of my home.

This process repeated itself quite a few times before I said, "Shit..! Seriously! Fine, I won't let Shinra do any unnecessary tests, just stop running."

He stopped his yowling and hissing and just looked at me for a moment, as though asking me: "You know Shinra?"

I knew it was crazy of me but I went ahead and responded to the interpreted question, "Yeah, I know Shinra. Known him ever since elementary school. Anyway, get the hell down here."

The cat seemed to mull it over for a few seconds before deciding to cooperate.

Unfortunately, when we got to Shinra's workplace and were waiting, things were just as bad with all of the dogs about. I retreated to farthest corner to keep him from hissing and clawing anything that came near.

From there he seemed to calm down for the most part, though he was obviously on his guard.

Satisfied with tense calmness, I took to staring at the clock, waiting for this all to be dealt with magically.

"Meorw."

I raised an eyebrow and looked at the cat. He was gazing up at me with his reddish brown eyes, begging for my attention. When he noticed he finally had it, he looked back down and pawed at a magazine.

"...You want me to get it out for you?"

"Miah!"

"..'Kay.." I fished the one magazine he had been pawing at and it turned out to be one of those fashion magazines. I gave the cat a weird look but he was too busy staring at the cover with a strange expression, so I looked back at the magazine.

On the cover, along with the names of some articles was the picture of a young man. He had raven black locks which contrasted heavily with his pearly white skin. As expected of fashion magazines lately, his deep, wine red shirt was more unbuttoned than buttoned, showing off his lean torso. Also, the crimson of his most likely silk shirt brought out and accented the red in his scarlet tinted brown eyes.

Near him were two words not followed by any page numbers. _Izaya Orihara_.

It was a weird name in my opinion and the young model's eyes eerily reminded me of the cat's. Thinking of the feline, I turned my gaze back to him and still he possessed the same strange expression. Finally, I frowned, deciding that the expression was a sad one. I wanted to comfort him, but calling him "cat" seemed just awkward. So I called him the first thing that came to mind.

"Izaya, c'mere."

Surprisingly, he looked up immediately in response, his reddish brown eyes wide in a curious, almost shocked, manner. Carefully, he climbed onto me and off the couch we were on.

"That's it. It's 'kay, Izaya. Everything's okay," I said as I pet him gently, unsure of what else to do.

Just as I had finally managed to calm down the newly named cat, a nurse stepped out from one of the doors and said, "Shizuo? Shizuo Heiwajima?"

"Yeah?"

"The vet will be seeing your cat now."

Izaya tensed in my arms.

"...Thanks..."

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><p><em>Yup, Izaya be a model XD Fun, no?<em>

_I love me some reviews~ They inspire me, motivate me, and other such good things~_


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